War of 1812

The War of 1812 was fought from 1812 to 1815 between the United States and Britain, with fighting also involving British Canada and various Native American nations, arising chiefly from American grievances over British impressment of American sailors and trade restrictions imposed during Britain's war against Napoleonic France. British forces raided the American capital in 1814, burning the White House and the Capitol, before being repelled at Baltimore, where the successful defense of Fort McHenry inspired Francis Scott Key to write the verses that became The Star-Spangled Banner. The war's most lopsided battle, the American victory at New Orleans in January 1815 under General Andrew Jackson, was fought after the peace treaty had already been signed in Europe but before news of it reached the combatants. The Treaty of Ghent, signed in December 1814, ended the war on a basis of status quo ante bellum, restoring prewar boundaries and leaving the disputes over impressment and trade unresolved on paper even as the practices themselves lapsed once the Napoleonic Wars ended.